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Confrontation with Monsters: GMing a Game
I don’t know if this is strange or not, but this section I put off writing because I used to think it was the simplest and least necessary. “Just be a GM” was my common thought. Having worked on this book for more than a decade and a half, I realized that this section was both the most needed and the hardest to write. I could run a game using my system, but how could anybody else? Any questions or problems that came up I would improv off the top of my head. How could I expect other GMs to work that way? There is a Suikoden tabletop game in my head. I’ve done a lot to get everything on paper, and take questions as best I can. But even then, for fans of this series and for tabletops, putting everything you could on paper and then expecting everyone else to improve their own way through it is unfeasible. Especially for something that’s designed to be essentially a rulebook. This section is going to go over the basic ideas I had (and still have) as I came up with this game, so the writing style here is more of me, Matt the author, addressing you, the reader, than other sections. It’s also going to go over the more meaty, behind-the-scenes stuff GMs normally do in tabletops like enemy creation and game balance. Apologies for it sounding like a ramble. Feeling Like Suikoden These next few blurbs are about how to make a game feel like Suikoden. Scope of Game The game, as designed, is meant to be a full Suikoden campaign (from the instigating incident, to 108 allies and beating the Big Bad Evil Guy). Adding mechanics to the headquarters (something I inexplicably did not have in previous versions) I think helps solidify that idea. But it definitely can be scaled down appropriately. Your PCs are the stars (no pun intended) at the end of it. A GM can design a game around (108 - PCs = Remaining NPCs) if they so desire. But I can understand a GM finding that to be a bit of a nightmare. The system should be able to shrink down as necessary. All rules are designed to keep it feeling as “Suikodeny” as possible. It may seem weird that Leknaat is a reward for an enterprising group of PCs that have gone through painstaking detail to flesh out their headquarters, since it seems like an incredibly soft reward that is more role-play than mechanical. However, it keeps in line with Suikoden. Leknaat always visits before the end of the game. This is an ideal time to bestow a great boon to the party, doing it through the lens of Leknaat. A lot of Suikoden’s enjoyment comes from the world and its characters, and not necessarily its combat or mechanics. After all, Suikoden championed ideas of battles and grinding being tedious and allowed for players to get through them as quick as possible (“Let Go”, “Bribe”, any number of hit-all unite attacks, etc.) Of course, the combat is also so unique that not trying to recapture it in tabletop form would be a crime. Most tabletop gaming comes down to GMs and players working together to tell a story. Suikoden has done the hard part with all the world building and history. There’s plenty of material there for a tabletop group to work together and build either something massive and legendary, or small and awesome. The purpose of this rulebook is to simply be that engine. Battles and Combat Combat in Suikoden was revolutionary because of how quick combat was supposed to be. “Let Go”, “Bribe”, exponential EXP gains, and other such ideas changed how jRPG combat could be. Translating that to a tabletop game has made it seem more complicated. Ergo, if combat ever gets too bogged down, I recommend just trying to streamline it however you can. This game has become quite mechanically thick, and if things ever get too time consuming, just go with what feels right. A Tabletop Versus a Video Game If you played any of the early revisions of this book, the mechanics were a lot more video game than they were tabletop game. That meant big numbers and lots of calculations. A lot of players didn’t find that fun, so I streamlined it and shrunk it down. This seemed inevitable, and while I was resistant at first, I found it easy to make things feel like Suikoden. What wound up unexpectedly harder was to introduce tabletop elements into a Suikoden game. Players were always excited with the idea of being whoever or whatever outrageous concept they could come up with, and interacting with the game world and history that way. What I didn’t account for was players wanting to tell their own stories. Not that they weren’t right to expect that, but I hadn’t designed for it. In introducing role-play related mechanics, that’s something very unique to the tabletop part game. It’s also incredibly necessary. It adds a bitof uncertainty to storytelling elements, but that’s part and parcel for tabletop gaming. This additiondoesn’t shift away from core Suikoden themes as one might expect, but rather it refocuses the game on players. But at the end of the day, it’s just Suikoden! If everyone is enjoying themselves, that’s what’s the most important part! Mini-Games Mini-games are an iconic aspect of Suikoden, and should not be overlooked. This book does not cover all the minigames in Suikoden, but it is highly encouraged to incorporate them into any campaign. Players find them fun, and can provide a decent enough break in regular play to refresh players for a bit. Card matching, three-cups-and-a-coin, or other small table or parlor games work great. Chinchirorin is, of course, a Suikoden staple. If you have a traditional Asian tea cup, sake cup, or a bowl lying around; and 3d6, it’s worth it. Sorting Out Other Problems In talking with other nerds about tabletop gaming, one of the more hilariously reoccurring themes is how to deal with intra-party drama, and drama between the party and GM. To keep it still kind of Suikoden related, I’ve come to accept that most of the people using this system will be some sort of Suikoden fan. I’ve tried to design it so anybody could pick it up and not need be familiar with the universe, but it doesn’t seem like a big appeal otherwise. It’s mechanics-dense to keep it feeling Suikodeny. So it’s important to accept that everyone will walk to the table with different kinds of experiences and expectations. To that end, the best way to deal with problems is to make everyone talk to each other. That goes for you the GM as well: talk to your players. Get their temperature on things from time to time and make sure that you’re listening to them. Simply venting some air out will solve a lot of issues players might get over the course of a campaign. This especially helps when different kinds of players come to the same table to play. It might not be easy, but talking things out usually sorts them out to an amicable solution. As the GM, the final say rests with you in most matters. Mechanics Still Not Designed There’s quite an abundance of mechanics not yet created for notable talents in Suikoden games. Some that come right off the top of my head: Trickery Elevators Gambling Hall Map Making Journalist Fishing Sculpting Singing/Troubadours Few other things. They were haphazardly included in other editions, but as of Revision 5, are blanked out. The appropriate stars in the star still offer those talents, but those talents have no description of their use. They should not be picked. Of particular note, the pet archetype classes (Trickster, Dragon Knight) are also unavailable in this revision. Pets are hard, and will require a massive slew of new mechanics to make sure it all works out. Mechanical Notes In every previous revision of this book I didn’t really go into detail about the mechanics. This section fixes that so GMs can get a better idea of how to create enemies and villains. Making Difficulty Ratings The average roll on a d12 is 6.5. With no talent to add whatsoever, a DR of 7 means the player already has almost a 50% chance of success. DRs of 10 is a good place to start for new players with talents, adding 1-2 for every 5-10 levels, if you wish to maintain about a 50% success rate. If you want players to make a check, go lower. If you want players to have to earn it, go higher. Leveling Up and Balancing When a player levels up, they get an attribute point. As they cannot raise a skill or a talent above an attribute grade, players must raise raw attributes first. The most vital skills for an archetype, therefore, cost at least 2 points to raise. Advancement is incremental. The game expects an ultimate final level of level 60, though does not have to be. GMs can progress past 60 as they see fit. It uses 60 as a base because 60 seemed to be endgame in the video games, and represents a fully developed character with a defining S-rank skill with some other skills: From character creation to S-rank attribute: 22 points Accompanying S-rank skill: Another 22 points. That comes out to 44 points, leaving 16 points. Eight can be assumed to go to other skills and raising other attributes as well. A+ and S ranks are really diminishing returns, and players are expected (though not required) to go more of a diverse leveling route. Doing so would save the player an extra ten-to-twenty points to put elsewhere. Level 30 is considered halfway, and is balanced. It also serves as a good end point for a smaller scope campaign. Table 5.A: Hypothetical Combat Prowess and Weapon Level * Notes: This table focuses primarily on players who will primarily use physical attacks. Players with magic-centric characters will be of lower combat prowess. * A blacksmith using their talent can only raise weapons up to level 12, in the current system. GMs need to decide how to get players from 12 to 16 if they so choose. * Weapon level also controls damage dice. Controlling weapon level increases should also coincide with enemy HP values (a d10 average roll is 5.5). Enemy Armor Rating & Player Weapon Level Armor accessibility and weapon level is where you, the GM, have the most control over how battle flows. You cannot control how your players rollplay, but you do have methods to adjust combat as necessary to make things easier or more difficult for your players. As a GM, what you are looking for if you’re looking to create monsters or Big Bad Evil Guys, is to understand how your players are going to deal damage. Physical attacks can be calculated as such. (Average of player’s Combat Prowess) + (Average of player’s Weapon Level) + 6.5 (Average Roll of a d12) Magic is balanced by archetype and on a per rune basis. Knowing this can help you determine what number will let a group of players hit with short range physical attacks theoretically 50% of the time if the enemy has an armor rating equal to this value (there is variance due to using averages, some players will miss more and other players will hit more). A monster should also have a given evasion score to add to their armor rating to help lower that percent for medium and long range attacks. Lowering this number will make it easier to hit, raising this number will make it much harder. The other way you as a GM can control the flow of battle is player weapon level. It is up to your discretion as to how this works, be it one blacksmith and hammers, multiple blacksmiths, slow introduction to a tutor that can increase blacksmithing skill, or something yet to be seen. As the GM, you have direct control over how to introduce new weapon levels to the players. Keep in mind that the sooner you give players higher weapon levels, the more damage they will do quickly. Enemy Creation For enemy and monster creation, the guide gives a corresponding level that the PCs are expected to be. Shifting some numbers around, adding more monsters, or different attacks and abilities should flavor the enemies up appropriately. Notes: * It takes roughly 2-3 physical attacks on average to kill enemies using these stat blocks, bearing in mind this is with absolutely zero modifiers for things like accessories or Combat Strategy buffs. Lower HP, Armor Ratings, or To Hit Values to make them easier. Raise HP, Armor Ratings, or To Hit Values to make them more difficult. * NPCs generated through character creation are balanced to fight PCs, but that is a longer process than looking at stat blocks and coming up with attacks and adjustments. Save using character creation for when it’s absolutely necessary (fight to recruit, reoccurring named NPCs, etc.) * The To Hit modifiers here are calculated for short range physical attacks, even though enemy attacks should also follow the standard of short/medium/long. Consider increasing To Hit modifiers slightly for medium or long range attacks. * Adding Level / 12 to enemy rolls while establishing turn order rolls gives enemies a slight Combat Reflex type of bonus. Moreover, add a flat value for enemies that should "act fast". Table 5.B: Basic Monster Stat Blocks Instant Death, Perma-Death, and Destined The Swallow rune is listed. The Viper rune is listed. The Soul Eater’s original mechanics are listed. All have instant death capability. The mechanical limitations have been designed in as best as possible, but there is nothing limiting your theoretical Soul Eater PC hitting a success on your Big Bad Evil Guy. Video games have the “doesn’t work on bosses” flag, whereas this is a tabletop game and there is no such thing. On that same token, I’ve had players uncomfortable with the idea of Destined/Undestined boon/drawback. They were given as an option because things like the Resurrection Rune exist, and therefore the permanence of death is hard to explain. All video games suffer from the dead-butnot- until-the-plot-says-so paradox. That was the true point of those boons, just a confirmation from the PC that it’s okay for their character to die. As a GM, figure this out ahead of time how you want to handle character death, and make sure the players know too. This is vital, since it could affect player ideas as well as availability of items. Since We're Talking About Runes player takes Runic Mastery(Sun), note there’s no findable sun-type runes: they’re all unique. Feel free to create your own by simply taking some spell mechanics from other runes and toning it down, and some from the unique sun runes that do exist. As an example: Morning Rune ''(Master)'' One ally This isn’t just limited to Sun magic either! This pattern happens throughout the entire Suikoden series -- creating one tier spell above or below to create new runes in the same family. Feel free to use this methodology to create runes of your own. War Battles War battles were designed with 3+ players in mind. If you have less than 3+ players, I’m not sure war battles are any fun, let alone balanced. Let the players know this, and proceed at your own risk. Before the battle, figure out your own dice pool. It should be roughly equivalent to the player’s total war strategy grade. Going by the 2-per-d20 rule, PCs will inherently have the advantage. Ergo, less dice in your dice pool will make it much easier. For more flavor, you can add more dice or give yourself strategist/Silverberg advantages, which will also increase the difficulty. Loot, Experience, and Treasure A player gets 100EXP if they are the same level as an enemy they defeat. For every level lower, cut it in half. For every level above, add half. EXP should be calculated on a per player basis. Defeating 8-12 enemies should roughly consist of a level up. The players should be on the same level as the enemies they fight, but making sure all party members are around the same level range can be difficult; especially if they’re also wearing gear that effects their level gain. Something to consider other than EXP is to use milestones. Rewarding attribute points directly for good roleplaying and battles to have a little more fine-tuned control over player advancement, and can advance the players in line with the story much more directly. As for treasure, use the treasure tables. You don’t have to make it random necessarily, but it’s all conveniently located so you can put forth loot as needed. Some are also broken down by level so you know what kind of gear to give and when without being concerned you’re giving away powerful stuff too early. The Cost of Things, Potch Stuff There has been no regard given to potch. I know. The safest way to go about it is to try and give each player roughly 1,000 potch per level up, and to come up with prices appropriately. This way they can pool their resources as necessary, and have to make conscious decisions about where their potch should go (blacksmith, new runes, etc.) You, as a GM, can then try to increase the cost of runes and gear as it becomes more rare and powerful. Business talents were designed for parties thathave them to generate surplus potch, so keep that in mind as well.